Body Being Examined

October 16, 1985|United Press International

DAMASCUS, SYRIA — Western diplomats said Tuesday they believed the decomposed body of an elderly man that washed ashore near the Syrian port of Tartus was that of Leon Klinghoffer, but final identification had not yet been made.

Klinghoffer, a 69-year-old American passenger confined to a wheelchair, was reported killed and thrown overboard off Tartus by four Palestinian gunmen who seized the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro last week.

The pirates, now in Italian custody, have denied they killed anyone during the two-day takeover.

However, Lebanese radio monitors intercepted exchanges between the terrorists and Tartus port authorities in which a hijacker was heard to say: ``We have thrown him in the water. We have shot him once in the head. His wife is wailing.``

CBS reported Tuesday night it had learned that the body which washed ashore in Syria had a bullet wound to the head.